Mikromuovipaniikin lietsonta laukalla

Suurin tutkimuksissa havaittujen mikromuovien lähde onkin tutkijoiden lateksihanskat!

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260329222938.htm

Scientists may have been unknowingly inflating microplastics pollution estimates, and the surprising source could be their own lab gloves. A University of Michigan study found that common nitrile and latex gloves release tiny particles called stearates, which closely resemble microplastics and can contaminate samples during testing. In some cases, this led to wildly exaggerated results, forcing researchers to track down the unexpected culprit.

No, eipä niiden mikromuovitutkimusten laatu muutenkaan ilmeisesti päätä huimaa:

EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), Barthélémy E, Cariou R, Castle L, Crebelli R, Di Consiglio E, Hemy Dumas T, Franz R, Grog K, Lambré C, Lampi E, Milana MR, Munoz Guajardo I, Pronk M, Rivière G, da Silva M, Tietz T, Tsochatzis E, Van Hoeck E, 2025. Literature review on micro- and nanoplastic release from food contact materials during their use. EFSA supporting publication 2025:22(10): EN-9733. 53 pp. doi:10.2903/sp.efsa.2025.EN-9733

Despite the large number of publications investigating the release of MNP (micro- and nanoplastics) from FCM (food contact materials), the available evidence concerning the characteristics and quantities of released MNP from FCM remains limited. Many publications are affected by methodological shortcomings in test conditions, in sample preparation, and by deficiencies in the reliability of analytical data, with the consequence of frequent misidentification and miscounting.

Kohua herättänyt "mikromuovia aivoissa!!" -tutkimuskin on saanut aika rankkaa kritiikkiä:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/13/microplastics-human…

One of the team behind the letter was blunt. “The brain microplastic paper is a joke,” said Dr Dušan Materić, at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany. “Fat is known to make false-positives for polyethylene. The brain has [approximately] 60% fat.” Materić and his colleagues suggested rising obesity levels could be an alternative explanation for the trend reported in the study.

Materić said: “That paper is really bad, and it is very explainable why it is wrong.” He thinks there are serious doubts over “more than half of the very high impact papers” reporting microplastics in biological tissue.